Torn Apart - Hunter angst - TOH

C.A.Ts - Chapter 32

"Welcome, Hunter.. To the Coven Against the Thrones headquarters!"
A large building sat infront of me.
"Covens against the Thrones?"
I stared at him, a bit confused. Coven against the Thrones? Was he in a cult?! We stepped closer before opening the door. Originally, I couldn't really see much, but as I entered, my vision felt overwhelmed.

•

Rugs littered the floor, corners full of weapons. And the colours. I don't know what to say except, just colours. It smelt of burnt out candles.
"Darius, you're back! And you brought somebody?"
A sweet voice shouted from another room. Slowly, they walked towards us. Raine Whispers? The Bard Head? At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if an owl slinky was apart too.
"HOOOT??? HOOONTER?"
Even more people emerged, three people wearing red outfits, Eberwolf, Lilith - the previous Emperor's coven head - her annoying bird and Steve.

•

"Hunter! I'm actually quite surprised to see you here!"
Raine spoke. They always sounded so enthusiastic when we talked. And now was no difference.
"What is this?"
Once I had asked, I noticed Darius, once again, roll his eyes as his face dropped.
"We are, the Covens Against the Throne.."
"Wait, can we please not make this our battle cry?"
"AKA.."
A few of the red uniformed Bards seemed excited.
"The C.A.Ts!"
*meowhissmeeoeow*
"Oh, Titan help us."

•

Since their previous explanation wasn't all that much help, the group sat me down to explain. From what I had taken in, they were a small group, working to take down Belos and prevent TDOU.
"So, would you like to join us?"
Everybody stared at me wide-eyed. Taking into account we have the same goal, and the more of us, the easier it will be to accomplish that goal. I agreed.
"Oh, um. Yes please."
After I had responded, I could see afew people light up. I guess a new member was big for them.

•

Hours passed and I was stuck, sitting alone. Darius was busy planning with Eberwolf, Raine and the other Bards. Steve, Lilith and Hooty were all talking as well. Yet, I didn't have anybody to talk to. I wish Willow was here.

Lilith's POV

I sat in a corner, talking to Hooty and Steve. Until, somebody caught my eye. A tired looking blonde boy. I didn't know who he was, just that he was Darius's friend, and his name was Hunter. To be honest, I'm surprised Darius was friends with a child. But the fact he looked so alone, there was something off about it.
"HOOT HOOT, CAN HOOTY HAVE SOME FOOD AS WELL???!!!"
"Do you even need to eat, Hooty?"
I could hear my two friends talking, now was a good time to leave them be.
"I'll be right back!"
"Oh, okay, See you soon Lilith!"
"BYE LILY HOOT"

•

I slowly walked towards Hunter, who was crawled into a ball in the corner.
"Hi there, you're Hunter, correct?"
He silently nodded. Maybe he wasn't in the mood for talking? No. I was going to befriend this kid!
"You know Darius, how did you guys meet?"
Since it wasn't a yes or no question, I didn't expect a response. Yet, to my surprise, a voice I recognized spoke.
"Coven. Emperor's Coven."
He was in the Emperor's Coven? A child? My eyes fell to his wrist, which did infact have a sigil. He had to be some sort of teen prodige to join so young.
"You seem so young! When did you join?"
"Well, Belos took me in at 4, I started training at 7, and I joined at 10."
Belos took him in? He joined the coven at 10 years old?! I was lost for words.
"You use to be in the coven too, right?"
"Oh yeah! I was. What was your scout number, maybe we met."
"I don't actually remember."
"Didn't you only leave the coven recently?"
"Yeah, but it's been like 3 years since I was a scout."
So he was apart of the coven, but not a scout? A teen prodige aswell. And his voice was definitely one I recognized.
"You're the Golden Guard?!"

•

Hunter's POV

"You're the Golden Guard?!"
My heart was racing already. I know a lot of people didn't like the Golden Guard, or well, me. I wanted to change how people saw me. I saw Lilith take a breath before continuing.
"Why did you leave?"
There was alot of ways to answer that. Could I just not keep up with missions. Was it how Belos treated me? Or Flapjack? Or was it what I saw in his mind. Either way, there was atleast one way to put it.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, just a bit more often then I should of been."
She looked at me, confused.
"Couldn't you asked Belos to fix it? He sure did think you were just so great."
I could hear a slight snarky undertone in her voice. It just didn't make sense, why did she hate me so much? We barely ever spoke!

•

I couldn't even bring myself to respond. I hated it. I hated how I acted before. My arms began to shake as I tightened my grip, holding myself in a ball-like shape. Gently, I pushed myself up, finally responding.
"I-I'm going to get some water, do you w-want any?"
"I'm sorry, that came off badly, I didn't mean-"
I rushed over to the sink. What kept happening to me? It was like everything was overwhelming me to the point I could barely speak. Quickly, I spun the tap open. Letting water pour into two small cups. In the time they were filling up, I tried to calm myself down. Slow, deep breaths.

•

A cold hand fell on my shoulder. Instantly, I flinched back, dropping the cup in the sink. Luckily, it wasn't broken.
"I'm sorry Hunter."
Still looking down towards the flowing tap, I responded, trembling.
"I-its, ookay."
I passed her a glass, filled up with water.
"Could I ask, what was it like as the Golden Guard?"
I thought about the question. What was it like being the Golden Guard. Literally everybody hated me. I always had to lead missions. And if we failed, Belos would punish me. But surely there was something positive about it. Yet nothing came to mind. It was mainly training though. I guess that was nice. And I met Darius.
"I guess, I just had alot of training on my own, and missions."

•

I could tell Lilith thought something was off.
"You mentioned earlier being at the wrong place at the wrong time. What did you mean?"
As much as I wanted to tell her, I couldn't bring myself to do it. No, I can trust Lilith, she's Eda's sister, right? My face began turning red.
"F-f.. Flapjack, a-and p-p-pun, p-punishments. *sniff* and I-I.. I'm...!"
Noise just stopped coming out my voice at some point. Suddenly, I fell into Lilith's arms, in tears.
"It's okay, you're okay now."
She hugged me back, comforting me. I felt so safe with the C.A.Ts. First Darius, now Lilith? My arms tightened around her. Hugging. Gus taught me about it, and it was nice.

•

I sat with Lilith for the next hour or so, both sharing our coven stories. It was nice to talk to somebody else who lead the coven, such as Lilith. It helped me calm down aswell.
"It's getting quite late, talk to you tomorrow, Hunter?"
I enthusiastically nodded my head before she walked to a different room. I suppose I should sleep aswell. Since I was unsure of where I was sleeping, I just layed down on a colourful rug, closing my eyes. My mind slowly went blank before I fell fast asleep.

Word count:1297